


who you live for

by firefall



Category: Fast & Furious (2009), Fast and the Furious Series
Genre: Dubious Morality, Families of Choice, Gen, Letty Just Really Wants Her Dom Back, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-27
Updated: 2016-06-27
Packaged: 2018-07-18 12:14:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7314781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firefall/pseuds/firefall
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>“You’re gonna get Dom back to me,” Letty says matter-of-factly as if it’s the easiest thing in the world.  “Back to Mia, too.  And back to Vince and Leon if they ever decide to come ‘round again after</i> you<i> chased them away.”</i></p><p>
  <i>At the mention of Mia, a pang of guilt and regret socks Brian in the stomach.  Voice gone a little desperate, he asks, “What makes you think I can even do that?”</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“Because you’re motivated.”</i>
</p><p>Letty gets her family back and, as it turns out, so does Brian.</p>
            </blockquote>





	who you live for

**Author's Note:**

> Soooo this was born because the scene in Fast & Furious when Brian is letting Dom kick his ass and finally busts out "SHE JUST WANTED YOU TO COME HOME" breaks my lil heart every time. Naturally, I had to expound on it.
> 
> Warnings for: swearing and mild alcohol use. Also some that good old fashioned F&F questionable morality we all know and love.
> 
> Title inspired by twenty one pilots' "Ride."
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Fast and Furious and am making no profit off of this work. Unfortunately.

“Nice _suit_.”

 

It’s said like an accusation and Brian winces internally, knowing he deserves it.  There’s fire in Letty’s eyes, sparking hot as she looks him up and down, mouth twisting in a sneer at what she sees.  Suddenly Brian can’t breathe and he swallows hard, tugging at the collar of his dress shirt.  He hasn’t seen her in five years and somehow she can still make him feel incredibly stupid.

 

Brian clears his throat.  “You wanted to talk?” he says, because damned if he’s going to let her get the best of him.  Letty sought _him_ out, not the other way around.  And considering she’s willingly positioned herself back in the country she committed her crimes, she’s just lucky Brian is so committed to keeping the Toretto family out of prison.

 

“Yeah,” she says, tone clipped.  “But not here.”

 

Without glancing back, Letty crosses the street on foot, weaving her way through the gridlocked LA traffic and raising her middle finger at an angry driver that lays on his horn.  Brian stumbles after her, his FBI-trained finesse all but forgotten as he narrowly avoids getting hit by a taxi. 

 

When he manages to recover, his heart still racing in his chest, he sees Letty waiting on the sidewalk.  For the first time, the dark look on her face is replaced with amusement.  “You good?” she asks, though her tone clearly communicates how much she cares.  That is to say, not at all.

 

He opens his mouth to respond, but snaps it shut again when she turns on her heel and stalks into the closest bar, clearly not interested in his answer or his wellbeing.  Feeling a little bit like a lost puppy, Brian follows her inside and slides into the booth across from her.  It’s barely noon, but she orders them a couple of Coronas – Dom’s influence, to be sure – and tells the bartender that he’s paying.  She holds Brian’s gaze, eyes dark with a challenge, until he sighs and forks over a handful of crumbled up bills.  Then he sits back, waiting.

 

He doesn’t have to wait long.  Letty takes all of two sips of her beer before she leans forward and hisses, her voice dangerous, “Listen, you broke up my family and that’s not something I’m ever gonna let go.”

 

Brian blinks.  “Letty, I—”

 

Eyes flashing, Letty nearly growls at him.  “No, don’t call me that,” she orders, clenching the Corona so tight Brian’s afraid it’ll shatter into a million tiny pieces.  “You lost that privilege.”

 

It stings more than it should and Brian bites his lip, trying to keep his face blank and unaffected.  Letty’s bent forward halfway across the table, her jaw set and dark hair curling around her ears, so Brian follows her lead, leaning in until they’re only a few inches apart.  Brian’s voice is low when he says, “I let him go.  I put my job on the line for him, remember?”

 

Letty couldn’t look more murderous if she tried.  “Sorry if I don’t care about your fucking job right now,” she scoffs, a heated flush rising in her cheeks.  “Dom is _gone_.  I haven’t seen him in weeks and he’s not coming back.  Ever.”

 

For a split second, Brian flashes back to the Letty he knew five years ago, the one so similar and yet so different from the angry girl sitting in front of him.  As he takes in the news, his eyes rake over her face, finding all the little cracks and bumps she hasn’t been able to smooth over with rage and determination.  Her mouth is tight like she’s trying to remain impassive and there are deep purple bruises beneath her eyes.  She’s clearly exhausted.  “He’s on the run then?” Brian asks, even though he knows the answer.

 

She gives a single jerk of a nod.  “He’s hiding out down in—”  She cuts herself off, thinking better of it.  “He’s doing it to protect us, get the cops off our tail, you know?  But the way I see it, there’s no point in even having a family if we don’t stay together.”

 

Despite himself, Brian feels his stomach sink a little.  He lets himself sympathize for just a moment – a single moment where he imagines Letty lying awake at night wondering if the man she loves will ever return – but then he’s back to business.  “If you guys would just stop doing—”

 

Every trace of vulnerability gone, Letty grabs Brian’s wrist and cuts him off, nails digging into his skin.  “You don’t get to do that!” she snarls and her grip is so unforgiving, Brian worries she might break his bones.  “You don’t get to pretend you’re not one of the bad guys!  You’re just like us.”

 

Brian wants to argue, but his mouth has gone dry.  Images of Mia’s hands in his hair and Dom’s busted up Charger and Johnny Tran bleeding out in a ditch run through his mind, rendering him completely speechless.  Letty finally lets go of him, crossing her arms across her chest and watching him openly, mouth quirked with satisfaction.  She knows.

 

Coughing slightly, Brian forces himself to find his voice.  “If you hate me so much, why are you here?”

 

“You’re gonna get him back to me,” she says matter-of-factly as if it’s the easiest thing in the world.  “Back to Mia, too.  And back to Vince and Leon if they ever decide to come ‘round again after _you_ chased them away.”

 

At the mention of Mia, a pang of guilt and regret socks Brian in the stomach.  Voice gone a little desperate, he asks, “What makes you think I can even _do_ that?”

 

“Because you’re motivated.”

 

Caught off guard, Brian lets out a single shocked laugh, then claps his hand over his mouth.  “What the hell are you talking about?”

 

Not dissuaded, Letty leans in again, this time close enough that he can feel her hair brushing against his hands where they’re clasped on top of the table.  “You had a taste, O’Conner, and you got hooked,” she says, voice steady and confident.  “You and I both know you’d trade in the fancy suit, the government-issued handguns, the fucking FBI, for even one _second_ of the freedom you had with us.  With Dom.  So you’re gonna get him back because the thought of him being gone forever tears _you_ up, too.”  She pauses for a second, then shrugs and sits back in the booth.  “Besides, after everything you put us through?  You owe us one.”

 

This time Brian has to undo his top button to get air back into his lungs.  It’s like whoever is driving his brain hit the NOS and his thoughts are bouncing around at 120, threatening to run him off the road.  When he finally screeches to a stop, he only knows one thing: Dom has to go free.  The Toretto family is falling apart and Brian isn’t going to be the one to destroy them.  Not again.   

 

Brian sighs.  “I can’t go after him myself,” he says honestly.  “It’s taken five years of groveling and locking up criminal after criminal to get the government to trust me again.  But I might be able to cut you a deal.”

 

Letty narrows her eyes suspiciously.  “I’m not here for _might_ , fucker.”

 

Refusing to get caught up in a back-and-forth, Brian plows on steadily, holding her gaze.  “They’re looking for drivers to go undercover and take down the Braga cartel from within,” he tells her, the back of his neck prickling with paranoia.  If his superiors knew he was giving classified information to a known felon, they’d probably throw _him_ in jail.  “You’re one of the best drivers in the country and if you offer your services in exchange for Dom’s pardon, you might just get him back.”

 

Without even a second of hesitation, Letty slams her Corona down onto the table and says, “I’m in.”

 

And really, Brian should have seen it coming, but he’s still shocked, his eyes going wide and his mouth opening and closing like a fish.  When he finally trusts himself to make words, he stutters out, “These are big-time, Let—”  He clears his throat and corrects himself.  “— _Leticia_!  This isn’t Johnny Tran and his biker gang!”

 

Unbothered, Letty throws her hair over her shoulder and repeats, “I said I’m in.”

 

“But—”

 

“Shut up, O’Conner.”  Her expression opens up and Brian can see her desperation, hidden beneath the exhaustion and the stubbornness.  Her voice is shaky when she says, “If he was worth the risk to some piece of shit cop, how much more for me?”

 

That’s when Brian knows it’s over.  She’s going under and he’s going to be the one to put her there.  “I’ll get you in,” he promises, pinching the bridge of his nose and regretting every single decision he’s ever made.  “We’ll start tomorrow.”

 

“Damn right,” she says, finally appeased.  Then, like she hasn’t just signed herself up for certain death, she climbs out of the booth and grabs her drink with one hand and Brian’s with the other.  ‘Thanks for the beer, dickhead.  I’ll see you around.”

 

And then she’s gone.

 

_-_-_-_

 

It takes four years, a whole crew of people, and a shit-ton of bullets, but once Owen Shaw is finally taken care of, Letty gets her Dom back.  She doesn’t remember him – side effects of dying, Brian supposes – but perched on Dom’s lap at the dinner table, she looks like she belongs.  She looks like family.

 

Brian’s been through it nearly a thousand times, flipping it over and over in his head, analyzing and wondering and looking for some way he could’ve just _not_ fucked everything up, but there never seems to be a solution.  Sometimes it threatens to drown him, but today he’s surrounded by the most important people in his life and Mia is beaming at him, lit up all pretty by the sunlight with little Jack curled up in her lap.

 

They look like _they_ belong, too.

 

Unbidden, Letty’s words come back to him, _you’re just like us_ echoing in his head and making him smile to himself in amusement.  He’d fought against it with everything he had, but she’d been right in the end.  Maybe he’s not one of the good guys – maybe he never really was – but Rome is saying grace and Jack is gurgling happily, so Brian can’t really bring himself to care.

**Author's Note:**

> <3


End file.
